The invention relates to a toothbrush including improved means for fastening the friction elements.
The invention relates more particularly to a toothbrush of the type in which a brush head is equipped with flexible friction elements of general elongate shape, such as, for example, brushing filaments, which include a lower anchoring foot by means of which they are fastened to a principal body of the head.
Different techniques are known for fastening the friction elements to the principal body.
The friction elements may, for example, be grouped together in bunches or tufts, folded in two and fixed in receptacles made in the upper face of the principal body with the aid of metallic or plastic inserts. This technique, which is reliable, is nevertheless relatively complex to implement. It is, moreover, unsuitable for friction elements which have a relatively large diameter such as, for example, gum-massaging rods, and which it is thus difficult to fold in two.
It is also known to fasten the friction elements by embedding their lower end in the principal body. However, it is then necessary to monitor compatibility of the materials of the body and of the friction elements in terms of their implementation temperatures and in terms of their adhesion to the interface. This results in a restricted selection of materials, which does not always make it possible to comply with other constraints.
The object of the invention is therefore to propose a new design for fastening the friction elements to the principal body of the head which permits easy and inexpensive implementation, without being restricted in the choice of materials but at the same time guaranteeing satisfactory behaviour of the fastening over time.
To this end, the invention proposes a toothbrush of the type described above, characterized in that the anchoring foot of at least some of the friction elements is received in an anchoring hole passing through the principal body in such a way that upper and lower ends of the anchoring foot are arranged above and below the upper and lower faces, respectively, of the principal body, in that an upper end of an anchoring foot is connected to a lower end by means of a bridge of material which extends outside the anchoring hole and in that, at the lower and upper ends of the anchoring foot, the bridge of material bears against the lower and upper faces, respectively, of the principal body in order to fasten the friction element to the head.
According to further characteristics of the invention:
the bridge of material extends outside the principal body;
the bridge of material extends between the lower and upper ends of one and the same anchoring foot;
the bridges of material of several friction elements are produced together as a single component;
the friction elements include rods made from elastomer materials;
the rods made from elastomer material are produced by moulding and the bridges of material are produced together with the rods;
the principal body has substantially the shape of a plate, the rods made from elastomer material are arranged along an outer lateral edge of the principal body and the linking bridges of the rods form a continuous protective bead made from elastomer material around the outer lateral edge of the principal body;
the protective bead is formed in a hollowed-out impression made in the principal body so that the bead is flush with the level of the outer faces of the principal body;
the lower face of the principal body of the head is covered by a web of elastomer material which is produced as a single component together with the rods;
the rods are produced from elastomeric silicone.